Oscar Pistorius eyes Commonwealth Games time at Diamond League event

It has never been about the taking part, always about the winning for double
amputee Oscar Pistorius, yet the 23-year-old sprinter comes to the Diamond
League meeting at Crystal Palace on Friday with more than world records in
his sights.

Eyes on the prize: Oscar Pistorius is desperate to qualify for the Commonwealth Games in OctoberPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

Pistorius, a triple gold medallist at the Paralympic Games in Beijing, will run in the 'B’ 400 metres aiming to break the 46-second mark for the first time, and less than 24 hours later will line up as the firm favourite in the T44 – amputee sprinting – one-lap race.

Pistorius clocked a personal best of 46.02sec last month in Celle Ligure, Lignano, Italy, which put him just 0.07sec outside the qualifying mark to compete in the 400m as an able-bodied athlete at the Commonwealth and Olympic Games.

The remarkable South African, born without fibulae in both legs, has come some distance in the past two years, not least in his ground-breaking battle with the International Association of Athletics Federations in the law courts as he sought parity with his able-bodied counterparts.

Twenty-four months ago, Pistorius set a world record for his disability class in winning the 400m gold medal at the Paralympic Games in Beijing in 47.49sec.

Since then, in spite of a high-speed boat crash in South Africa a year ago when he broke a cheekbone and fractured his skull, he has progressively shaved time off his strongest event.